Baltimore, MD ( Aug. 23, 2013) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that 17,366 Maryland families have received $1.358 billion in relief from the Mortgage Servicing Settlement during the period of March 1, 2012 through June 31, 2013, according to the newest progress report issued by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. This represents approximately $460 million more in relief and assistance for distressed homeowners than originally estimated. The latest numbers do not include more than $15 million in one-time, no-strings-attached cash payments of more than $1,480 apiece to 10,142 eligible borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011.

"This historic settlement has helped thousands of Maryland families keep their homes or navigate through terribly difficult financial circumstances as a result of the foreclosure crisis," said Attorney General Gansler. "That has helped stabilize property values in neighborhoods across our state, which was disproportionately impacted by the widespread mortgage abuses that contributed to our national recession."

The benefits and assistance calculated in the report include home mortgage modifications, principal reductions, deficiency waivers, refinancing and short sale financial assistance. The progress report does not reflect benefits and assistance finalized in July and August; it also does not incorporate trial lien modifications that began during the 16 months of the settlement, which could benefit additional Maryland families.

"We are pleased to see that this settlement has delivered much-needed help to thousands in our state," said Mark Kaufman, Maryland's Commissioner of Financial Regulation who is a member of a 14-state Monitoring Committee established to help oversee the National Mortgage Settlement. "With banks still falling short on the servicing standards and many residents still facing difficulty, however, there is still much work to be done."

The $1,358,044,344 in relief and assistance exceeds the original estimate for Maryland's share of the National Mortgage Settlement, which was initially projected to be $957 million. Of that, an estimated $900 million in direct relief and assistance was expected to benefit Maryland homeowners. An estimated $59 million is being distributed to housing counselors and legal aid organizations to assist distressed homeowners with their mortgage or foreclosure issues; to communities and organizations for neighborhood stabilization grants; to jurisdictions hardest hit by the housing crisis; to boost protections against financial fraud through the Commissioner of Financial Regulation; and to expand housing-related civil and criminal enforcement efforts at the Office of the Attorney General. Ten percent of that segment of funds -- $5.9 million - has been contributed to the state's General Fund., as per regular procedure for a civil penalty.

The nationwide progress report outlines more than $51 billion in gross consumer relief distributed to more than 643,000 borrowers by the five national lenders who are part of the settlement: Ally (ResCap/GMAC), Bank of America (Countrywide), Citi Bank, JPMorgan Chase (WaMu) and Wells Fargo (Wachovia). The figures provided in the quarterly progress report were submitted by the five lenders and are subject to review by the Monitor.

The settlement was the result of allegations that the nation's five largest mortgage servicers engaged in illegal "robo-signing" of documents and a variety of other mortgage lending abuses.